Heroes Of Olympus Son Of Neptune
by avelinette
Summary: Intro, 1, and 2 from Josh The Bold. Discontinued, sorry guys. :-
1. Chapter 1

Chpt. 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or THO (The Heroes of Olympus).**

I was in a dormitory. Huh? Where am I? And, most importantly, who am I?

I pushed my covers and got out of bed. I looked around the place and I spotted some paper stuck on the wall behind me. I went over to see it but I couldn't make head or tail of it.

The letters were so confusing! Floating around, turning into weird shapes and giving me a headache.

I groaned. I kept my eyes focused on what should be first period. Hmmm... I made out something like _beakrftas_. Oh, breakfast.

I saw a trunk under my bed. I opened it and randomly took out some clothes. I went into the changing room, got dressed and came out.

Only one problem. I don't know the way to the breakfast hall!

I walked outside and wandered around a little bit. Unfortunately, I bumped into a teacher.

'Watch where you're going, cupcakes!' (**A/N: Previous author thought the faun would be funny if it were like Coach Hedge. I'll probably leave it that way.) **Cupcakes?

I didn't have time to think about. The guy came back and said, 'I don't know you.' I knew it! I said something intelligent like, 'Ummm... You don't?'

He made a sound I couldn't figure out, but I think it was a barnyard animal's bleat.

Confused, I asked him the way to the breakfast hall. He pointed towards a hallway and I ran for it.

I thought about the sound. Something had clicked when I heard it. Like I had heard it before, lots of times.

I went into the hallway. Everybody was causing ruckus, shouting at the top of their voices, playing with talking to their friends, having fun and bursting my head.

I started moving forward but a brown haired guy pulled me down. 'Percy! We've been waiting forever! Where have you been?'

Huh? What the heck? Who is this guy? I don't know him.

'I got the meal you wanted,' He continued. 'Hope you like it!'

He grinned at me. What the heck! WHO IS HE!

'I don't know you.' I said.

'Oh sure, I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone!' He grinned. (**A/N: Couldn't resist using this quote.)**

I looked at him. No doubt that he was absolutely out of his mind. 'Well, come on!' He said.

The girl sitting next to him said, 'James, give it a rest! I think he has amnesia.'

James grinned again. 'Yeah, right. Stop acting.'

'No,' the girl said. 'We've gotta take him to Coach Bush.'

'Wait,' I said. 'Who's Coach Bush? Is he the teacher who walks strangely and makes a weird sound?'

'You do remember!' James said.

'No, I met him on the way here.' I said.

'Okay,' the girl said. 'Just remember that my name is Ann.'

They got up and escorted me to the gym room. 'Coach,' Ann started but Coach turned around and saw us.

'We think that Percy's got amnesia.' Ann said.

Coach raised an eyebrow. 'Got amnesia, eh? We'll worry about that later. Now get on the bus!'

'Bus?' I asked.

'We're going on a field trip. Coach Bush is leading it.' Ann informed me.

Without another word, they took me onto the bus.


	2. Chapter 2

Chpt. 2

We got off the bus and headed towards the campsite. Yeah, it was a kind of hang-around-and-do-stuff kind of field trip.

Coach told us that we were going to be there for a long time so we had to get a lot of stuff. James, Ann, me and some few other unpopular kids were elected to put up the tent.

We got the equipment and got building when I noticed something odd. James was incredible! He just took a bit of equipment, and in a few seconds, he was almost done!

Ann was different. Her tent looked something like a command center tent. Something sprung inside me, like I had seen this before. I couldn't remember where or when, but I remembered it. As I struggled to remember more, a background came up. There were some weird creatures with weapons; I mean stuff like swords and shields, Greek stuff.

I started to worry. Where WAS I from? Coach Bush's yell brought me back.

'Hey, cupcakes! Put up the tent!'

I couldn't figure out how to do it. Ann told me that they had gone on field trips before and Coach taught us how to do it.

Stumped, I called James over. I told him my situation and before I knew it, the tent was finished and he was fixing other tents.

How did I miss it? Experimentally, I just sat without doing anything for a while and I started to get restless. I tried to stop it until I couldn't stand it.

I sprang up and started running around crazily. Nobody noticed me, except James and Ann. How?

James just grinned and went on with his work while Ann tried to calm me down.

At least I had proven it. I _was _ADHD.

Suddenly, Coach told ever body except James, Ann, me and a bully named Carl to get on the bus. Then Coach did something really weird. He snapped his fingers and a wave rippled over the place.

'Did you feel it?' I asked James. He said yes. The people on the bus just started talking like nothing happened.

Of course, Carl took this chance to start bothering us. He flicked our ears, punched us once or twice, and some other stuff that I don't want to mention.

Coach told us to go over somewhere far, and suddenly, Carl had an outburst.

'Yeah, right, faun! You think you can protect three godlings at once? Well, you're wrong! Meet my mates.' Carl began to change until he look like a... an anemoi theullai! Wait, how did I know that?

I didn't have time to think because Carl attacked me. Instinctively, I fished in my pockets and found a ballpoint pen.

What do you do when you're attacked by a storm spirit? I let my instincts take over and I uncapped the pen. It grew into a bronze sword. Anuklusmos, it read on the side.

'Riptide,' I thought. I took the sword and slashed at the spirit, but it only appeared somewhere else. It laughed but I could see it was terrified of my sword. It waved its head and more storm anemoi theullai appeared.

Coach ripped of his shoes and got out his weapon. It was a club. I looked down at his feet. He didn't have feet, he had hooves.

'You're a satyr.' I said stupidly.

'Faun!' Coach snapped. 'Satyrs are Greek. But we'll talk about that later.'

He ran towards the spirits screaming, 'Die!' and he killed two of them.

There was a pond near me. I tried to get there. My instincts told me I had to get in there. My brain didn't think so.

Thinking that I was a lunatic, I jumped in. I found I could breathe perfectly fine underwater. Well, that was an advantage.

I gathered some strength and went back to the shore. Coach had defeated them all. There was only one left. If I could breathe underwater, why couldn't I control it?

I concentrated on it, thought about the water rising and I felt a tug in my gut. A big wave came up and it pushed the storm spirit forward and I thrust my sword into its chest. It turned to dust.

James and Ann were still dazed. Coach Bush said that a extraction squad was coming.

That's when James came to his senses and said, 'Extraction squad? That sounds painful.'

Ann came to her senses too and said, 'Shut up, James.'

I saw something like a chariot in the distance. 'Is that the squad?' I asked Coach.

He squinted. 'Yup.'

The chariot was coming at an amazing speed. In about 15 seconds it came up to us.

There was a buff looking guy in the chariot. Seated next to him was a girl with brown hair.

Where is he?' The girl asked. She sized us up. 'Where is Jason?'

She looked up at the sky. 'What do you want from me?'

She went off on her own to grumble while the buff looking guy came up. 'Hi, I'm Bob.'

'What was that about? That girl looks like she could blow up a mountain.' James said.

Bob hesitated. 'Reina's okay. She's just stressed out.'

'Why?' I asked.

Bob looked at me. 'Some friend of hers is missing. Guy named Jason Grace.'


	3. Chapter 3

**(a/n) I guess I wasn't clear enough in my instructions: You need to be either logged on, give enough details the ****first**** time, or using your real username if you want to enter a contest for the character. "Colbyn" is going to be a onetime character, because "Colbyn" did not tell me anything about the character details. Also, does anyone know about Reina's details? Because I honestly have no idea who she is, and the previous author didn't say anything about her. BTW, we are ignoring the "command center" comment the previous author made about Ann.**

Chapter 3

We arrived without any major difficulties. Well, if being attacked by more monsters on the way, and losing two carriage wheels counts as "non-major". But hey, we landed, and the carriage wasn't destroyed! At least, not destroyed severely.

Reina immediately went off somewhere else, muttering about battle plans. "Thanks for the help!" Bob yelled sarcastically after her. He turned back, and began to start explaining.

"Okay. You guys know the roman myths, right? Like, Jupiter and Venus and Mars? Well, it's hard to believe, but they're all true."

James laughed. "You mean . . . the god of the dead was cancelled! 'Cause he's Pluto, and they decided Pluto wasn't a planet anymore."

I frowned. I thought the god of the dead was Hades, but I guessed that Hades was Greek.

Bob rolled his eyes at James, and continued: "Anyway, you guys are all children of the gods. Halfbloods, demigods, whatever you want to call it.

Coach Bush interrupted him at this point. "Judging from your actions, Percy, I'd say you are one of the incredibly rare sons of the sea god."

I concentrated, and then asked "That would be. . . Poseidon, right?"

"NO, that's GREEK! How many times do I have to tell you? ROMAN not GREEK! The CORRECT name is NEPTUNE!"

I backed away from him. Ann glared at Coach Bush. "Jeez! He just got the names mixed up."

Bob gave us a tour of the camp. Suddenly, James and I ran into him as he stopped without any warning. We both turned to look at Ann, who had a moon floating over her head.

Bob explained quickly. "It's one of the symbols of the goddess Diana. She is represented in many different forms. In this way, she is the goddess of the moon, also known as Luna when in this form; Ann, you are her daughter."

I frowned. "Isn't Artemis supposed to be the goddess of the moon?"

"NO!" Coach Bush yelled. "You and your thick head! Artemis is Greek. WE are ROMAN. Do you get it now?" He stormed away, mad.

Bob looked around, and then called out to a girl on the side. "Hey, Colbyn! You're in charge until your head counsellor gets back, right? This is your new sibling, Ann."

Colbyn came over and showed Ann the way to her cabin. Bob turned back to James and I. "Okay, Percy, see that cabin up there? That's the Neptune cabin, you'll be staying there. James, I'll take you to the Mercury cabin."

I walked into my new cabin, and promptly collapsed on the bed. It had been a LONG day.

Three hours later, I found James and Ann, and we were about to head to my cabin to talk in private when a bell rang out from a building. I shrugged, and we started walking that way.

Inside the building people were sitting at tables by cabin. That's not really important. What I really noticed was that all of them, even the girls covered in makeup and Gucci, looked like they could chop my head off.

I sat down at the empty table with a trident, and ate the food that was laid out like a buffet. Bob had said children of Neptune were rare. I guessed I was the only one.

After the meal, a campfire was started, and a woman sat at the very front. Suddenly, the woman sat rigid, and a black fog streamed out of her mouth. An echoing voice began to sound:

_To our land strangers shall come, _

_Yet they are not so strange to some,_

_A new leader shall come forwards,_

_And bring the old one back towards,_

_But first he must succeed,_

_In freeing the goddess, her will he must heed._

_The moon and the sun, and even some rain,_

_Must find the key, or leave forces untamed._

Whispering broke out in the crowd, until a wolf strode forwards. In our heads, she spoke. "_Silence! We will begin the choosing now. The hero must be new. New campers forward!"_

I was scared to go, but I was even more scared to anger the wolf. So a couple of other campers, Ann, James, and I all stepped up.

Suddenly, a mark of the sun rose above James's head. _"You, child! You are a son of Apollo, the sun god. You shall accompany the hero on the quest!"_

Ann and I looked at each other in panic. James couldn't go alone, but Ann shouldn't be forced to either! Ann made a split second decision:

"Um, excuse me? I'm a daughter of Luna, the moon goddess. If he's the sun, then wouldn't I be the moon?"

"_I admire your bravery, and for that, you may go. Now, for the rain. I can sense that none of you are children of the rain, so it must mean water. And I believe you, young mister, are a son of Neptune, correct?"_

"Yeah. Wait a minute! Does this mean I am the HERO?"

**(a/n) Okay, so "Colbyn" DID get the color contest right. A couple more people can still win, though. For the song contest, I did make a songfics for it, so there is only going to be one winner. I am, however, going to open a different song contest, and a story quote one, too.**

**Song  
Did I wake you? Were you sleeping? Were you still in the bed?  
Or is a nightmare keeping you up instead?  
Po' baby are you feeling guilty for what you did?  
If you think you're hurting, you ain't seen nothing yet.**

**Quote**

"'**I vill now destroy de snickus bahrs!' And we were literally laughing in the face of death."**

**I do not own the song or the book I took the words from, and it goes without saying that I don't own PJO. In fact, I'm not even going to say it from now on. You guys know I'm not Rick Riordan. If I ever tell you I'm Rick Riordan, you will know I'm having a major identity crisis. Like Mara from House Of Anubis.**

**Signing off,**

**avelinette**


	4. Chapter 4

**(a/n) If you are one of those people who is going to flame me for a long a/n go ahead, because I have a lot to say. Thanks for reviewing, but most of all, thank you Hannah Cha. Yes, there is a goddess of the rain (there is a god/goddess for everything, the gods where meant to explain everything from natural disasters to why the sky was blue) While in one of the ways Diana is represented, she is a virgin, when Diana is Luna, she is not specifically a virgin. Diana is the basic goddess for the Greek equivalents of Persephone, Hecate, Selene, and Artemis. She is only a virgin when Diana is the equivalent of Artemis. Here is the link I used for my research: **

**The color you guessed was correct, if you review again, please give details for a character (e-appearance, possible godly parent (I may/may not make character a demigod) mood, skill) You are the only other person who will have a character, because I have been informed by a slightly helpful reviewer that character contests are not allowed. I have no idea what you meant by "the question-thingy" so I am guessing Temporary Home. Thanks for the info on Reyna; because I don't know about her, I don't think I'll use her any more until someone tells me.**

**And lastly, if any of you are wondering, Apollo is the same god for both Rome and Greece. He still has an oracle, but she did not reside in Delphi.**

Chapter 4

Ann, James, and I were all back in my cabin, wondering about the prophecy. So far, James wasn't helping at all.

"Okay, since it's a 'stranger that isn't strange' . . . it's got to be the mail man! Because you know he's the mail man, but you wouldn't recognize him on the street. What do you think? No? Aww, come on!"

Ann took a much more sensible approach. "Well, we know we're the 'moon, sun, and rain,' and maybe the forces untamed are really dangerous monsters? As for the new hero and old hero, it's obvious, right?"

James and I stared at her. "Have you gone all Minerva on us? I mean, we know Percy is the 'new hero,' but who on Earth is the 'old one,'? Is it my grandmother?"

Ann rolled her eyes. "James, you are such an IDIOT! Remember the chariot? Reyna's missing friend? That's the old hero! Jason Grace!" **(a/n-I know it seems like she's acting like Annabeth, but that's more of James being dumb)**

I decided to step in and break them up. "'Kay guys, so we KNOW that I have to 'return' the old hero, Jason Grace. But who is this goddess whose 'will I must heed'?"

Just then, we were interrupted by someone outside. "Hey newbies! Get out here, meet the people! Unless, of course, you're a WIMP!"

I looked at Ann and James. "Umm. . . I'm thinking that unless we want our reputation here to be at the status of 'scaredy-cat who can't take a hit', we'd better get out there.

Ann nodded, and James shrugged. Whoever was outside hadn't sounded like this was gonna be a simple meet and greet party. We headed towards the door.

Outside of my cabin, a boy around our age stood, an evil smirk across his face. "Well, well. Look who we have here. You think you're so tough, just because you're a son of Neptune. Well, guess what? I don't give a {insert-swear-word-of-your-choice-here} who your daddy is; all wimps like you are the same, and this son of Mars is gonna beat you to a pulp."

The creep then grinned, and I tell you, it was the scariest thing he had done-yet. He nodded his head towards Ann: "In fact, I'll bet you couldn't even help protect Little Miss Wimpy over there." Creepy Dude lunged at Ann.

I reacted impulsively, jumping in front of her. The sword he had just pulled out hit me, full in the chest. Ann screamed, and James yelled out. "Dude! How badly are you hurt? If you die, do I get to lead the quest?" Ann yelled at James. "Now is NOT the time for a joke!"

I for one was completely and utterly shocked. Not because I was afraid the hit would kill me: because the hit hadn't hurt me at all. The sword sorta bounced off my chest, and the flat of the blade bopped Creepy Dude in the face. "Wha' . . . ?" was all he could manage.

Ann and James gaped at me. "Sweet! Dude, you gotta teach me how to do that!" "How the Pluto did you not get hurt?"

Weirdly enough, the whole thing-being attacked by a child of Mars, besting them, everyone being in shock-was giving me a gigantic case of déjà-vu. I wondered: did Romans believe in reincarnation or rebirth like the Greeks did? Could I be somebody else reborn?

Suddenly, the she-wolf from before, Lupa, came out. "_You." _She said, glaring at me._ "Come with me, your friends can wait."_

As I walked away, I could her James saying "Ooh, cue the ominous music." And then Ann's reply: "Shut up James. I think he's in trouble." The last thing I heard was James stating the obvious. "Well, duh. Question is, why?"

As soon as we were out of earshot, Lupa turned to me. _"Child, you insist on using Greek names, you are the only known son of Neptune in centuries, you are the subject of a prophecy, and you bear the Greek curse of Achilles. __Who__ has sent you?"_

I replied the only way I could. "I don't know. I can't remember anything past a few days ago. I woke up in some random dormitory. The only thing I remember from before then was a dream I had."

"_I sense you are telling the truth. Therefore, you shall not be punished. You would do well to tell me more of this dream you say you had. Most demigod dreams have more meaning than you would think."_

"Well, it was a pretty simple dream. I was in a room with an enormous golden cage. A goddess who looked like . . . . What is it you call her? The goddess of wisdom and strategy? Oh yeah, Minerva. She told me to 'go there, accept the quest, and get me out' I probably should have said this sooner, huh?"

Lupa growled at me. _"Child, you have a way with annoying the gods, it may seem. Yes you should have said this much sooner, but since you did not know, you will be forgiven. Eventually. As for now, the best thing you can do is continue on the quest. We now know that the goddess Minerva is trapped. Where? You must find her on your own. Leave in the morning. Now go, and prepare!"_

She didn't have to ask me twice. I quickly hurried back to my cabin, where Ann and James were waiting. I recounted everything that had happened, and we decided to comply with Minerva's summoning. Her will I must heed, right? Ann ran off to her cabin and James to his. I had a feeling we were all going to be tired in the morning.

**(a/n) Sorry, I would have posted this last night, but I was having an issue at the 'son of Mars' part, so I didn't get finished until really late. I'm probably only going to be able to post chapters on weekends, because I have a lot of schoolwork. I'm not sure yet though, and I am a fast writer, so I might post sooner. **

**avelinette**


	5. Chapter 5

**(a/n) To alicehart1234, I don't know what you mean by "**but mayb u should like not do it in midle on word or whatever," **but if my computer switches the writing to the center of the page automatically, I have had issues with this in the past, and so far I do not know how to fix the problem. If you read this, and you see a problem with the text, please message me.**

Chapter 5

Dreams of the goddess Minerva swirled around my head, haunting me as I slept. I finally gave up and got out of my bunk. I checked through my stuff one last time, and noticed something I hadn't seen before.

Stuck in the outer pocket of my backpack was an envelope with a ballpoint pen attached to it. I took the envelope in my hand and opened it. It was addressed to a Sally Blowfis in Manhattan, dated for a couple of years ago. There wasn't a return address.

_Mrs. Blowfis:_

_Camp Halfblood regrets to inform you of the unverified absence of your son, Peter Johnson, but as you must know from our camp brochure, we cannot offer much in return. He disappeared in the middle of a quest. He has been missing for two weeks, so we can only hope he won't return. His stupid shroud burning ceremony is tomorrow, if you want to be all teary eyed about it. There will be a joyous after party, during which I would suggest the Pinot Noir._

_Sincerely,  
Dionysus_

_P.S. Chiron told me his name is Percy Jackson. Oh well, he's dead, no one cares._

After the letter, someone had added a flash drive to the envelope. I was a little worried about seeing the contents after reading the letter, but I had to know about this. Wasn't Chiron someone Greek?

Lupa hadn't seemed to happy with me for not telling her about the dream I had about Minerva, and I was not going to chance her anger this time. I glanced at the pen, and noticed that the cap was jammed on crookedly. I took the cap off to fix it, and to my surprise, a sword grew out of the pen.

I read the inscription on the side, and I realized it was the sword I had had earlier. I know recognized the writing as ancient Greek. But wasn't I supposed to read Latin?

I remembered the flash drive and the letter, and grabbed them to go find Lupa. After looking everywhere, I finally found her in the same place as yesterday.

"Um, Lupa? I know I'm probably interrupting you, and annoying you again, but I just found something I thought might be important. This letter appeared in my backpack pocket, and I think it has to do with the Greek gods. It had the flash drive inside it, but I don't have a computer or anything so. . ."

"_Quiet, son of Neptune, and what is that sword you are holding? That inscription is not in Roman at all. Allow me to read the letter, and then you shall explain."_

After reading the leader, Lupa growled softly. _"The idiot Dionysus is the Greek god of wine and parties. The centaur Chiron is the trainer of Greek heroes. I have a hunch, but first, you must explain this sword."_

"I have never seen this sword before today. Or at least, I don't remember seeing it. The writing on the side is Greek, Anuklusmos, or Riptide, but I can understand it anyway. Shouldn't I be able to understand Latin, not Ancient Greek?"

"_Child, I believe you come from our enemy camp. This so-called Camp Halfblood resides in Long Island, New York. This would mean you are a son of the Greek god, Poseidon. For whatever reason, they need help, and are coming to us. I have a feeling you will need the key of the prophecy first._

_Tell your friends about the enemy camp. You __must__ be on the lookout for their ships. You may choose whether or not to tell them about yourself. If what I know is correct, you must find Minerva to find the key, and upon finding the strangers, you shall return our hero. _

_Sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures, and I do believe that to fully succeed, the Romans and the Greeks must overcome their differences, and become allies."_

I nodded, still a little dumbstruck, and went back to my cabin. I put the letter and flash drive into the inside of my backpack, and after thinking about it, I returned the sword, Riptide, to pen form, and put in in my jean pocket. After that, I went to find Ann and James.

Crowded together in a corner of the Apollo cabin, we relayed what we had found to each other. Ann grinned and touched a moon shaped orb on her new necklace. It transformed into a long, samurai looking sword. "It also works like a flashlight at night. Cool, huh?"

For once, James rolled his eyes at Ann, and held up a whitish colored bow, and a quiver to match. "Dude, nothing is as cool as this. It's a magical quiver, so it never runs out of arrows. Not some girly little necklace."

Ann glared at him. "And just how do you plan to get a full-sized bow and quiver through customs at an airport, mister?"

I spoke up. "Guys, I have something to tell you that's a little bit more important than taking a bow through security. First off, those strangers that aren't strange? They're heroes from the Greek camp. It's like here, except with the Greek gods.

Secondly, although they've been our enemies since the beginning of time—or at least Roman mythology—we're going to have to become allies. When we find Minerva, we'll find the key. The only thing we need to know is where to look for her."

At this point, Ann spoke up. "Actually, I've been thinking, and I think we need to go to the east. You see the sun and the moon rise in the east, and they set in the west. And there has to be a reason the prophecy chose both the sun and the moon for this quest."

James, for once, was serious. "As weird as it feels to say this, I agree with Ann. Also, I think that the only way to enter the place where Minerva is held would be to wait until you can see both the sun and the moon in the sky. So, early morning, or early evening, and as fast as we can so we can have the most time."

I remembered one last thing. "Wait. Last night, Lupa also said that we should leave in the morning, instead of later, in the afternoon. Maybe we should go as soon as we can to save time." I figured that the son of Poseidon stuff could wait until we knew if the other camp was truly a 'frenemy'.

**(a/n) Okay, second chapter posted in a day, second chapter written in two days. That would be a record for me. Review if you think it was crappy, review if you hate my guts, review if you "OMG LIKE TOTE LUVED IT!" review if you like potatoes, just please review. Oh, every 25****th**** reviewer gets a shout out. The first reviewer was TheOnlyWeirdo, so thank you!**

**avelinette**


	6. Chapter 6

**(a/n) Sorry I updated so late, I had writer's block, and a HUGE social studies project. At least it's on Roman mythology! To shoshona79: I'm going with the idea I told you for the flash drive. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. As Hannah Cha has not responded for a character, I am just going to make a character named Hannah. alicehart1234-because you did answer, just tell me if you are okay with my idea. I am looking for a beta reader for this story, PM me if you can, or if you know someone that will.**

Chapter 6

We had made good progress so far, after only being on the road for a short while. In case you're wondering, Ann was driving a camp van, and somehow we hadn't been pulled over by a cop.

Right now, we were at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe, right down the road from Pixar studios. Actually, I told Ann to pull over here because I noticed they had computers. I didn't know how I would do it, but I planned on looking at that flash drive.

Ann took a seat at one of the computers, and opened up Google maps. "I'm gonna work on planning out a route. This might take a little."

James and I added everything in our pockets together for some chow. We had enough money to buy a couple of muffins and sodas, and still have 20 dollars left.

James bought three blueberry muffins and three Pepsi's, brought them to our table, and started scarfing his muffin down. I ate my muffin just as fast. Ann, who had seen the muffins and walked over muttered "Boys. _Such_ pigs." She ate hers at a normal rate.

Ann payed 50 cents to print out a map of the rest of our trip, and she left for the girl's bathroom. James started flirting with the girl at the counter. I rolled my eyes, but I slowly walked over to the computer furthest from James, with the flash drive in my hand.

After plugging it in, I clicked the Start button, and then "my computer". Guessing, I opened the file that said "Secure Removable Storage Device F:" A couple of files showed up on the screen. First, I clicked the one saying "Annabeth's Pics".

A slideshow started, the first picture being of a tall girl with curly, blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. For whatever reason, she reminded me of someone I knew. Maybe the goddess Minerva?

The next picture was of a boy, about a couple of years younger than me, but very dark, almost like a deathly aurora. He was standing in front of a huge crack, in what looked like the floor of a pavilion.

Next, there was a picture of a teenager. He looked like he belonged in the line up of a football team, very sturdy, well built. I got a bad feeling when I saw this picture.

I skipped the rest of the pictures to save time, and stopped at the very last one. I got a little queasy when I saw this one, though. The picture had the blonde girl from before, laughing and holding hands with . . . me? It _was_ me, I was positive.

I looked at the files that were left. One of them was labelled "files from Daedleus's laptop," I clicked on it and what I saw surprised me. There were blueprints after blueprints, each one for something slightly different. I clicked on one that was dated for a little while ago, but still sort of recent.

It was a bad choice. The file had a picture of a written out list, shakily labelled "_C_a_s_u_a_l_t_i_e_s of the War," On each line, there was a name next to a date, the names in chronological order. The first one was Charles Beckendorf.

The name at the very bottom of the list was written even more shakily than the title. "_Lu_k_e C_a_s_t_e_l_l_a_n," _it read, and I had a feeling that this person had been a pretty close friend of the author.

I closed out of both files, and opened the second to last one on the drive. This one was a video. Before I hit the play button, I took a good look at the frozen image.

A few people were seated at a table. At one end was a middle aged man in a wheel chair, and at the other, was an odd man wearing a purple leopard print jumpsuit, who had a very purplish-tinted face.

I recognized the curly haired girl from before at the table, but no one else. Before I could change my mind, I hit the play button.

The man in the wheelchair started talking, and every one faced towards the camera. "Percy, as you watch this, I know you will not recognize any of us, and you may feel hostile towards us at the moment. Please, Perseus, continue observing the video.

You are not a Roman demigod. You may already know this, but you are a son of a Greek god, Poseidon. The children you see gathered here are fellow campers, leaders of their cabins, survivors of the second Titan war, and, most importantly, your friends and advisors-"

A tough looking girl who reminded me of the children of Mars interrupted him. "Excuse me? Did you just say _friend_? Very distant acquaintance, _maybe_, but I am not Prissy's friend!"

The purple dude rolled his eyes, and the man in the wheelchair started speaking again. "Okay Clarisse, calm down. It's just a video. As I was saying: Percy, you must return to Camp Halfblood. You may not remember anything about us, but no one else can help you as much as we can try to."

The blonde smiled grimly, and she spoke as well: "Percy, as much as I hate to use this against you, you have to come back to camp. Not only because you belong here, but because we are the _only_ people who can explain everything to you.

Besides, while you may think you are invincible right now, I know your Achilles' heel, your only weak spot. And I'll bet even you can't remember where it is. Wouldn't it be nice, to know your past again?"

Her voice cracked at the end of the last sentence. The video ended, and I clicked the last file, labelled "Tyson's shield," The flash drive popped out of the socket and on to the ground.

When I went to pick it up, it had become a watch. I had seen watch shields at the Roman camp, and I knew how to work this one if I ever needed it. I remembered what the girl had said about my "Achilles' heel," Now I had a reason to be worried. What if the Greeks weren't friendly? If she knew how to kill me in a fight, what would happen if she was told to?

I noticed that Ann and James were pretty close to me. I pulled up a Google Chrome tab, and thanked the gods that it had AOL up. "I was just checking the news. Did you know a blizzard hit southern Texas two days ago? That's just weird."

Ann tilted her head and looked at weirdly. "Um, okay . . . ? Anyway, come on guys, let's get out of here." James and I obligingly followed along as she led the way to the car.

After driving about a mile eastward, Ann stopped the car suddenly, and it screeched to a halt. "G-g-guys? I think I just heard something out there."

The three of us grabbed our weapons, but we didn't get a lot of time to prepare ourselves. Out of nowhere, a gigantic crash hit the van. Ann screamed as we toppled over . . .

**(a/n) Okay, even I am mad at myself for the cliffie. But it was necessary, because in 5 minutes, I gotta be somewhere. Hannah is going to come in later, Alicehart: if you are fine with the character I told you, tell me in your review. Peace!**


	7. Chapter 7

**(a/n) I realize that this is a **_**really**_** late post; I've been really busy and haven't had time to write. If anyone is willing to beta this story, tell me, and I can now beta for other people, if you need a beta reader on one of your stories. I'm not going to do anything romantic between Ann and Percy, but there might be something else for Percy later on . . . On that note, here is the fight scene.**

_End of Chapter 6:_

_After driving about a mile eastward, Ann stopped the car suddenly, and it screeched to a halt. "G-g-guys? I think I just heard something out there."_

_The three of us grabbed our weapons, but we didn't get a lot of time to prepare ourselves. Out of nowhere, a gigantic crash hit the van. Ann screamed as we toppled over . . ._

Chapter 7

(Percy's POV)

Automatically, I slashed Riptide at the side of the van. "So much for _driving_ to New York." James said. Ann, finishing the hole I had made in the metal, spoke through her teeth. "Now is not the time, James. I repeat, NOT the time."

I jumped out of the van; the others close on my heels. I slashed Riptide towards the offending monster, sorry, monster_s_. There were only five, but for three new demigods—okay, two new demigods, and one with amnesia—five monsters was a lot to deal with.

I finally got a good hit in, and the Griffin I was fighting literally exploded into millions of tiny shards of glass, as if I had broken a windshield in a car crash or something.

My excitement at getting rid of another one of the five Griffins (leaving to to be destroyed) however, was short lived. A muffles shriek came from Ann, who had been cornered against the van, her sword lying useless, about seven yards away.

(Ann's POV)

As the griffin slowly pushed me closer towards the van, I took stock of my surroundings. James had grabbed an arrow, and was using it as a spear to fight a Griffin. Percy had just killed one, but he was too far away to reach me in time. Suddenly, I felt my back thud against the van.

I admit it. As the Griffin slowly pulled closer, I let out a _tiny_ shriek. I was cornered by a huge monster! Who wouldn't shriek? Luckily for me, Percy heard me. He was still too far away to reach me in time, but maybe he could figure something out.

I knew I probably shouldn't have trusted Percy, not after seeing the end of that video, but I had no other choice. Besides, if he had wanted to kill us, couldn't he have done it before, during the battle with the storm spirits?

As I contemplated that, Percy had obviously been thinking as well. Almost faster than you could blink, he hit a watch on his wrist—wait, when did he get a watch?—and threw the shield it had become towards me. I grabbed it as it came near, and, using it like a weapon, shoved it into the Griffin's face.

It jumped away in surprise. In fact, it jumped away just far enough so that I could get my sword. I struck the Griffin at an angle, as if I was trying to cut off its leg, and it shattered immediately. As Percy and James—having finished with his Griffin—ran towards me, I had about two seconds to look at the front of Percy's shield.

Not enough time for someone to look at all of the pictures _and_ memorize them, you might think. Well, James and Percy might not know it, but I have a photographic memory. It was pretty useful at times like this. After looking at the shield once, I could remember every single picture on it, with immaculate details.

I handed Percy his shield, and we headed towards what James said was "Somewhere near 'Nowhere, New York,'" A sizzling sound caused me to stop in my tracks, and look behind us. The griffins were reforming! "Percy? James? Sorry if I'm wrong, but aren't monsters supposed to take _decades_ to reform, not one minute?"

(Annabeth POV) **(Oh yeah, oh yeah) (Same place as Percy & Ann & James. I gotta do a James POV sometime soon. . .)**

After a . . . issue . . . that we had with the boat, a group of us decided to take one of the camp vans to California. In the group we had me, Jason, Leo, Piper, Thalia, Phoebe, a different member of the hunt, Travis, Connor, and Katie.

I was starting to regret having Travis and Conner in the group when a white, unmarked van passed by us. A girl who looked a little too young to drive was behind the wheel.

So, of course, everyone in our group stopped bickering, and started trailing the van. "Wow. Not even a fake company?" I heard Connor whisper to Travis. "We don't know for sure it's the Roman camp van." Katie hissed to the Stolls.

Travis glared at her. "What kind of 16 year old girl regularly drives around in a white, unmarked van? Katie rolled her eyes, but still said "Point taken."

"Shut up!" I yelled. "We're going to lose them. And you guys _know_ I'm not going to be happy if we lose one of our only leads on Percy!" That got them to be quiet, but the damage had already been done. The van had suddenly turned off road, and into the woods, and we had lost them.

We couldn't give up on this lead, not so early, not when it was still so promising. We found the clearing just as a Griffin materialized out of nowhere. The girl we had seen driving said something, and two boys agreed. I couldn't see their faces yet, though.

Thalia decided to go for a theatrical approach. Just as the trio turned to face the Griffins (and us), she came out, sword, shield, and all, and said. "Need a hand?"

**(a/n) Was that okay for Annabeth's POV? Sorry again about the late post, like I said I was busy all week. Peace!**


	8. Chapter 8

**(a/n) Some people have commented, saying that the story happened too fast. Yes I know it seems that way, but the story is not over yet. (Obviously.) Remember the rest of the prophecy? Come on, anyone? Seriously? For one thing, my prophecy hasn't been completed, yet alone Rick Riordan's. In case some people have forgotten the prophecies, here they are. (Italics=completed)**

**Seven Halfbloods shall answer the call,**

**To storm or fire the world must fall,**

**An oath to keep with final breath,**

**And foes bear arms to the doors of death.  
**

_**To our land strangers shall come,**_

_**Yet they are not so strange to some.**_

_**A new leader shall come forwards,**_

**And bring the old one back towards.**

**But first he must succeed.**

**In freeing the goddess, **_**her will he must heed.**_

_**The moon and the sun, and even some rain,**_

**Must find the key, or leave forces untamed.**

**So, you see, I've got a lot more left to do for my prophecy. And they won't find the key in this story, because I have a different idea, a HUGE twist, in mind. Well, actually, it's not that huge, but it's hard to expect. And there will be a fight between Ann and Clarisse. (Verbal, not physical.) **

**To Hannah Cha- I'm a little worried about the big three part, but I will use her. If she is a big three, she will be Roman—Pluto's daughter—because so far there isn't any for Pluto, but there is for Neptune and Jupiter. **

**Shout out for the 25****th**** reviewer: Tom Sybecken**

Chapter 8

Annabeth's POV

Our small force came out into the open clearing. I cautiously looked at the boys' faces. One of them was Percy! We had _finally_ found him! But I couldn't help being a little—okay, a lot—nervous.

What if the girl who had been driving the van thought she was his girlfriend—like Piper and Jason—because of the mist? And what if he thought so as well?

What if the Roman camp's influence on him was so strong that he hated the Greek demigods? What if we had made it worse by sending the video? Would he fight against his family, or would he let the truth through?

My thoughts were cut short by the growl of one very angry Griffin. That is, one very angry Griffin that was headed straight towards me!

I expertly dodged the strike from its paw, and ducked under the Griffin's belly, just long enough to drive my knife into the soft spot that lead directly to the Griffin's heart.

Instead of exploding into a yellowish dust like the Greek monsters I usually fought, however, this Griffin turned to solid glass, and then shattered into millions of fragments. In about, let's say, three seconds. I guessed that it was a Roman thing, but I wasn't positive.

Thalia eliminated the last Griffin, and turned toward the matter at hand. "You three. Percy and your two friends. Come on this way, we need to get away from here before those Griffins come back."

Percy, the other boy, and the girl looked hesitantly at each other. Percy shrugged, as if to say "What other choice do we have?" and the three started following Thalia. The rest of my group brought up the rear, but the two unknown demigods were soon lagging behind. I guessed that they wouldn't leave Percy alone, so we could let them talk for now.

Ann's POV

"James!" I hissed. "I need to tell you something. Slow down, we'll drop behind them, and catch back up later." James turned and gave me a weird look, but, obligingly, he slowed his pace, and we slowly found the group moving away from us. I made sure to keep the group in sight, but out of earshot.

"Well, Ann? What is it that's so important; the people who just saved our lives can't hear it? Oh, let me guess. That tree is about to turn into a giant sword and attack us. Besides, if you're worried about trusting those people, they are obviously demigods. Why would they kill us, especially in the middle of a quest?"

"Gods, you're annoying. Just hear me out, okay? Besides, even if you don't believe me, I've got proof. Undeniable, mind changing, thought shattering proof. You have no other choice.

And, besides, I've got a sword."

"Wow, Ann. Who would've thought you'd be the one to make a joke out of something serious? Oh, wait, is now 'Not the time, NOT the time, James.'?"

I wanted to rip his head off, but I decided that if I did that, then I would no longer the sensible, slightly annoying Ann to James and Percy, but instead a psycho murderer Ann. And that would not help me figure out the situation, not at all.

"James. You should really, and I mean really, shut up now. Look, Percy had other reasons than getting a bite to eat to stop at that internet cafe. And yes, I did see what it was. Girls don't take THAT long in the bathroom, you know.

He had some computer disk-thingy that he viewed on one of the computers. I didn't see all of it, but I saw enough to be suspicious. And before you interrupt about me not seeing all of it: Well, then, what possibly dangerous thing did you see while you were . . . preoccupied . . . with the barista—who, by the way, is SO out of your league?

Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, Percy watched a video, and guess who was in the video? No one other than the people who just saved our lives, and that's why they absolutely cannot hear me tell you about it."

After I finished telling him about the video and the shield with Greek monsters and battles, James stared at me, speechless. "You mean THESE people are the Greek demigods, our enemies? Because if so, there aren't that many of them . . . Yeah, yeah, I know, the rest are at their camp. But why would they save us?"

"My guess is that they need the key, and they think we have it. And they also want Percy back, that much is obvious. But we don't have the key, they intercepted us too early. So, my idea is that we lose Percy, and then pretend we already got the key on a previous quest.

Once we lead them back to camp, Lupa can decide what to do with them. That way, if we accidentally mess it up, we don't completely run our rep with the Mars kids. Good enough for you?"

James looked at me, then at the Greek's. The he looked at me again. "There are so many holes in that plan, it looks like Swiss cheese. But it looks like we don't have anything else to go on."

I smiled, and told him the details of my plan:

"Act as if you aren't suspicious of Percy, and tell him we're going to talk it over tonight. Keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't tell any of them.

I'll volunteer to keep watch or something, and then I'll wait until they are all asleep. Then, you and I get Percy, and we'll tell him that we need to go somewhere private to talk. You'll act like you keep hearing noises, so we'll walk 'farther than expected,' I'll remember the way back."

I hurriedly whispered the rest of my plan, and then, we quickly caught up with the group. James caught up with Percy, and I could only hope that Percy was the only one who heard.

**(a/n) Oooh and the plot thickens. I just came up with Ann's plan, and it's pretty ingenious if I do say so myself. Of course, you only know half of it, so, yeah. Anyhow, bye!**

**Avelinette**


	9. Chapter 9

**(a/n) Sorry this took SO long, I had (and still have) really bad writer's block. No idea when it might go away, so I've been trying to get this chapter out anyway. **

Chapter 9

(Percy's POV)

James had been keeping an eye on me all day. It was starting to bug me. Did he think I had trusted the group of people too quickly? DID I trust them too quickly?

I had a feeling that this might come up in our meeting. But it also made me think: What if Ann and James had figured out the truth, that the group of demigods were Greek? How on earth would I tell them about ME?

Suddenly, the blonde girl—from the video—in front of me stopped. "Okay, the van is behind this clearing. Since it's dark, instead of hitting the road, we'll camp out here. I'm Annabeth, and with me are Thalia, Phoebe, Melissa, Katie, Piper, Travis, Connor, Jason, Nico, and Leo." She pointed to each person in turn.

I decided to play along and act like I thought they were Roman. "I'm Percy, that's Ann, and that's James. We're new at camp, and we were only there a few days before leaving, so you probably don't recognize us."

Annabeth nodded and said "Yeah, we were on a trip to find new demigods. That's why we are away from camp. What about you guys, why are you out here?"

Ann cut in before I could reply. "We had a quest issued to us by Lupa. It was sort of . . . unexpected. My mother is Luna, Percy's father is Neptune, and James's dad is Apollo. Who are your godly parents?"

The boy Annabeth had said was Jason stepped forward. "Annabeth's mom is Minerva, Thalia, Phoebe, & Melissa are hunters of Diana, Leo's dad is Vulcan, Travis & Connor are both sons of Hermes, Katie's mom is Ceres, Piper's mom is Venus . . . and Nico and I are undetermined."

Annabeth nodded, and resumed her 'in charge' role. "That's a good enough introduction for now, but there's a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Thalia, why don't you keep wa—,"

James cut her off. "Actually, Ann and I can keep watch. We need to figure out how off course we are from where we meant to be. Besides, I'm basically an insomniac; it won't make much of a difference.

Annabeth looked a little surprised. "If you're sure, then I guess it's okay. If someone—or something, for that matter—comes, don't yell. Stay as quiet as possible and wake up the rest of us. At one AM, wake up Thalia and switch so you can get some sleep." With that, she quickly spread out her blanket on the forest floor, as the others had done while she was talking. I grabbed a blanket as well.

Ann and James were talking, too quietly to be heard, over on the opposite side of the clearing. I guessed they would keep it up until they were sure everyone had fallen asleep. If somebody saw us walk away, we could get in big trouble with the others.

(James's POV)

Ann whispered the last words of her plan to me, but I was still curious about something else. "Did you say some of these people where in the video? Which ones?"

Ann closed her eyes and took two deep breaths, like she was trying not to scream furiously at me—or something. I mean, seriously, this is one girl who NEEDS to take a chill pill.

"James, you had better hope you know the plan. Annabeth, Katie, Travis, Connor, Jason, and Piper were there. I don't know about the rest. And, before you ask, YES, I'm positive. Why would I tell you if I wasn't sure?"

She had a point there. Ann rarely said something if she wasn't absolutely sure that it was correct. And, gods, I mean ABSOLUTELY. If you asked her what color grass was, she would probably take a sample to a laboratory, look at it under a microscope, and only then would she say the PRECISE shade of green that the particular blade of grass was. And no fancy Crayola names either.

Anyway, back to the conversation. "Yeah, yeah, I got it, you're sure. So, now we only have to figure who the Pluto HALF the people are! Isn't that great? I said, overenthusiastically.

Ann glared at me pointedly. "I know, I know," I quickly replied. "Not the time. But, seriously, we still have no idea who Thalia, Phoebe, Melissa, Nico, and Leo are. And did you notice how Jason hesitated when he said the he and Nico were undetermined? For whatever reason, they don't want us to know who their parents are."

Ann raised her eyebrows. "I'd say congrats about you figuring that out, but then you would just ruin it by telling me you learnt it from CSI Miami or something. Anyway, I think they're asleep. Go wake up Percy."

I snorted in response. "They've probably been asleep for half an hour, we were just too busy arguing to notice." I walked over to where Percy was sleeping and shook his shoulder. He sat up quickly, as if he hadn't been asleep at all. Now, gee, I wonder why that is?

Percy and I walked over to Ann and, right on cue, she stage whispered to Percy: "I don't think it's safe to talk here. Let's walk away a little further, I think I know a safe place where no one can hear us." We started walking away—in the general direction of our camp. At least, according to Ann.

Gods, if she was wrong about this, I was going to kill her. Of course, if she was wrong, we would all be dead meat anyway.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(At the area Ann had previously selected.)

Ann looked around anxiously. "I still don't know if it's safe here. Tell you what: I'll stand guard over there, and James will fill you in. 'Kay, Percy?"

Percy and I walked over to the center of the clearing. I sat down where I could see Ann, and Percy sat down across from me, so his back was to her. I was a little nervous myself at that point: what if Percy noticed that his sword and shield were missing, and tried to go back for them? It would mess up the entire plan.

I told him all the "non-important stuff". According to Ann, he would think that it was all we knew, and go along with it. I fingered the rope in my hoodie pocket. I guess Ann's tendency to read guidebooks and pay attention had helped, because otherwise, she wouldn't have put it in her backpack.

Percy sort of stiffened when I told him that Ann and I thought the group was Greek, and muttered. "Yeah, yeah, I think so, too." To everything I said about it. Suddenly a rock landed in a bush just behind Percy, so he had to turn around to look. Ann screamed "Monsters!" and I yanked the rope out of my pocket.

**(a/n) You hate me now, don't you? He-he. That's all for now, I'll try to get the chapter up a lot faster in the future.**

**avelinette**


	10. Chapter 10

**(a/n) I am such a hypocrite. I get mad when it takes people a little while to post a chapter, and here is my second uber-late one in a row. But, in my defence, I've been on a school trip all weekend. Yeah, I know, not much of an excuse. Some of you have been pleading for a new chapter, so I'm trying to get this in as fast as I can. Now, without further ado, here is . . .**

Chapter 10  
Percy's POV

I'd like to say I fought with 120 percent of my strength. I'd like to say I kicked their backstabbing butts to next week. I'd like to say that my so-called "curse of Achilles" helped me win the battle, and I'm saying this safely in the comfort of my own home.

But this story is supposed to tell you the truth. And, well, the truth is that 2 against 1 is nowhere near fair. Even a plan that's shaky to begin with can work out if you catch the victim unaware. And, when James covered my mouth and yanked my hands behind my back, man, was I unaware.

So, there I was, tied up, blindfolded, and gagged. I thought that it couldn't get any worse. Then, Ann grabbed me by my feet, James grabbed me by my head- it REALLY hurt!- and they carried/dragged me to a road. I heard them running back into the woods, and then nothing.

Their knots were pretty good, but James wasn't the kind of person who would pay attention in Boy Scouts. An hour later, I was free.

It would've been wonderful to go back into the woods, find the group, and confront the two traitors, but as it was, I had no idea which way to go. Twenty minutes later, I decided they had already left, so I started following the road eastward, the way we had left camp. I could look for a gas station and see if Annabeth's van had passed.

Ann's POV

James was pretty fast about tying Percy up, but we had no idea how long it would last, so we had to work quickly. We dragged him to the 'lonely road' that James had seen through his window because I was 'boring him so much that he had to look around.'

We ran back, just as the other group made their way to the clearing. Instantly, words flew around us

"What happened?"

"Where's Percy?"

"Did the monsters take him?"

"What kind of monsters?"

"Did he leave behind his wallet? I'll take-erm, I mean I'll hold on to it for him!"

"Travis, you idiot, at least keep _some _of your dignity!"

"Hey! I do too have dignity!"

"Here's a drum. Now, BEAT IT!"

"You don't even have a drum, how is he supposed to beat it?

"It's a figure of speech—HEY! Stay out of this, Thalia!"

"I will do what, I want, when I want. Now, why don't you take that and shove i—"

"SHUT UP!" Annabeth roared. Then, more calmly, but still kind of panicky, she turned to James and I. "First things first, what happened to Percy?"

I replied as quickly as I could. "We were attacked by griffons again. Two of them went straight towards me and James, and three cornered Percy. By the time we got past the griffons that were attacking us—"

Annabeth cut me off. "I get it, I get it. He's g-g-gone." And then, to my surprise, she sank down onto a fallen tree, and started crying. Thalia quickly sat down next to Annabeth and comforted her. The other kids looked tired and defeated, as if Annabeth crying really was the end of the world.

The silence—well, other than Annabeth, silence—in the clearing was suddenly broken by music. It took me a minute to realize that the Bon Jovi playing in the clearing was coming from my cell phone.

I looked at the caller ID and saw the words Mary Myers. Shakily, I stood up. "Um . . . I gotta take this.."

And, with that, I ran off into the woods.

James's POV

Just as Ann disappeared from view, Jason looked at me, as if to say "Aren't you going after her?" I shook my head, and said "Not a chance. She runs a five minute mile, and she's been on track teams since she could walk. When she runs, believe me, she RUNS."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Doesn't mean you can't go after her. Besides, we have to know where she is. We can't move on without the both of you."

I groaned. "Fine. But this could take a while." I started walking in the direction Ann had headed off in. After, say, half an hour—okay, a lot shorter than that—I found her sitting on the ground, speaking into the phone.

"No, no, it's okay Mary, please don't hang up, they won't get you, I promise. Do you hear me? He won't get you, the bad man won't get you. Please don't hang up, Mary, I promise he won't hurt you."

Ann was half-crying as she spoke, trying to comfort her sister. "Mary, it's not real. I promise. Just close your eyes, sweetie, just close your eyes and tell them to go away. The bad man will leave, I promise. It isn't real, Mary, none of it. Just close your eyes and it'll all go away, I swear, he'll leave.

Ann paused briefly to listen to Mary. "Okay, sweetie. Just go tell Daddy that they were bothering you again when he comes back. Ask him to take you to Miss Kitty, she'll help the bad people go away, and then they won't be there, and it'll all be fine, I promise. And I'll come home, and Daddy will find his job, and we'll play with Sally and Matthew again.

Just be nice for Miss Kitty, and make sure you take the little pills. They won 't hurt you, they'll make the bad people go away, I promise. I love you, Mary, but I have to go now. Please, Mary, remember that they aren't real . . . okay, bye now."

Ann closed the phone and looked at me, and then she was the one sobbing, saying in between breaths "I can't take this, I can't take it anymore, it scares me so much. She needs help, she needs help."

I had known about Ann's sister, but I had never known how bad it really was until now. I had no idea what to say to Ann. But finally, I came up with something. "You're right, Ann, Mary should have help. You shouldn't have to deal with it on your own. Someone else should keep things from getting so cra- hectic."

I figured that combining the truth and saying that she was right was about as close as I could get to saying something right. And, also, it was what my opinion was about the whole thing, anyway.

Awkwardly, I held out my hand to help her up, and we started walking back to the group. When we reached them, Ann, who had already come up with an excuse, said "I'm s-sorry. I just found out that my dog got hit by a car."

Piper nodded sympathetically, and Thalia, who had taken charge for Annabeth, stood up. "Well, a lot has happened today, but the gods don't favour wimps. We need to finish our mission and find Percy again, and you guys need to complete your quest. So I say we had eastward along with you guys, so we can help out if you need us."

Tactfully—apparently, 'for once'—I decided to skip the part about THEM being the ones who had to find our group member. However, ruining Ann's plan was an entirely different matter. "I don't know . . . it seems like we should go back to camp and tell Lupa that Percy is missing. After all, he is the leader of this quest. We should at least have a new person added to justify our chances."

I wasn't exactly sure what the Pluto I had just said, but desperate times call for pretending to be smart. (Oh, come on. You gotta admit that it was funny. At least a little? . . . Party-Pooper.)

Thalia blinked, once, twice, and then one last time before speaking. "Umm . . . yeah, I guess. Definitely, we need to tell Lupa he's missing. She can tell the search parties to be on the lookout for him, too. Good idea." She rambled.

Well, I wasn't too sure about that response, but if they were really Greeks, they probably didn't want to be taken directly to the leader of the enemy camp, so it kinda made sense. I followed Ann into the van, and prayed that Mary could wait until Ann got to her.

**(a/n) Imaginary cookies to those who can guess what's with Mary. And, if you don't like imaginary cookies, take your pick of something else. I've got an entire imaginary grocery store to choose from. Bonus imaginary presents if you've ridden the Griffin at Busch Gardens. I was way to chicken (It's a 90 degree angle down! Call me crazy, but that's kinda scary!) but my friends did. My fave coaster was the Loch Ness monster. Super bonus points if you've been on, loved it too, and can tell me why.**

**avelinette**


	11. Chapter 11 Finally!

**(a/n) Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry this is so late-I'm in Spain for vacation, and I have terrible writer's block with this story, sooo . . . yeah . . . I just re-read the last part of my story, and I've realized that I've kinda switched the plot. Maybe I can finish off some of these loose ends with a nice-**

**Sorry. I'll bet you wanted me to finish that sentence, and so did I. However, I kinda forgot what I was gonna say. Long story short, (stupid pun) I couldn't do much posting in Spain, and then a virus got downloaded on my computer for the first few weeks of school, but, now, here I am! I read the first chapter of Rick Riordan's SON, and I can safely say that these stories are very different. If can't get enough readers, I'll end up making, like, two uber-long chapters, and then calling it a day with this story. But, to those of you reading this right now; please stick around. I can promise you, the story will get much better. **

**(And I'm so mad at R.R. for making the gorgons such idiots.)**

Chapter 11

(Ann's POV)

Still shaken up from my phone call with Mary, I went over every part of the plan in my head. "We've gotten rid of Percy, we're heading towards camp, and we're going to turn the Greeks over to Lupa. Because we got rid of Percy, we don't have to worry about him fighting against us."

"They believed us about already having the key at camp, so they have no choice but to go through with taking us back. Besides, if they take us to the Greek camp, then Roman soldiers might go after them to get us. Or maybe at least Annabeth's group will _think_ that."

Each mile the van drove for was one mile closer to camp. And each mile closer to camp was a mile closer to being able to go home. And every mile closer to home I got was a mile closer to Mary. I didn't fully calm down until we were almost there, a mere 8 minutes away.

The minute the van pulled up, James and I led the Greeks out of the van. "Come on!" James cried. "No time for unpacking or socializing. Let's go straight to Lupa, we've got to tell her everything that happened, so that we can send a search party to look for Percy!"

I didn't care how ridiculous that must have sounded-because, right now, the only thing I could think of was something I had overheard my half sisters talking about. They had said something about having an initiation-how I was lucky that if the quest went well, I wouldn't need one. But showing up back at camp, keyless, and with our sworn enemies probably didn't count as successful. So what was so bad about initiation?

The whole group then arrived in front of Lupa, and I had no time left to ponder the initiation process.

"_Who are you? Why have you come to our camp? What do you want from us?" _she addressed Annabeth. Then she turned to me. _"Why are you back so early, and with an unfinished quest, it seems? And, where, may I ask, is Jackson?"_

The she-wolf's last word thundered, echoing around the spacious room. Inside, I was terrified, but I knew that Lupa would not like fear, so I did my best to suck it up, and hide it deep inside of me. After all, somebody _had_ to explain to Lupa what had just gone on in the past few days.

"Lupa, we come with b-bad news." I didn't want to start off this way, but I had to warn her, and getting Lupa angry was the only way I could think of to keep her on her guard. I hurriedly crammed the rest of the sentence into one breath.

"Percy-was-a-Greek-demigod-not-a-Roman-so-we-had-to-get-rid-of-him-and-all-these-people-with-us-are-from-the-Greek-camp-because-they-were-trying-to find-him-and—STOP THEM!" I practically screamed the last two words, because the minute they had realized what James and I were doing, the Greeks had started running.

Annabeth had even thrown a dagger at Lupa, but the she-wolf reared back just in time. That is just in time to start being very, VERY angry. _"Close the doors, and bolt them from outside!"_ Four campers, who had been standing guard, immediately followed her orders.

"_You!" _Lupa growled at Annabeth._ "You, who dares to trespass, but mimics a prisoner. Why have you left the safety of your camp to come here, a place where you will never be welcome?"_

Annabeth looked around her, at all the other Greek campers. Her gaze passed over me, and she seemed to remember Lupa's question. "You have one of our campers, and we want him back. Also, we think we know something about the monsters reforming."

Them knowing about the monsters surprised me. I'd thought they just wanted Percy back. Evidently, James did too, because he blurted out "What do YOU know about monsters reforming?"

Lupa glared at him. _"Silence, child! They will speak only if they know they are safe."_ Then she addressed the Greeks. _"According to Ann, we no longer have Percy-but you still have one of ours."_

I hated the way she said 'ours'. As if we were Barbies, and she was Little Miss Kindergarden. Still, it reminded me of what I'd been thinking before. So far, Jason was the only missing camper I'd heard of. And Lupa only knew about the Greeks who stood in front of her. So, obviously—

Annabeth stood tall. "Trade for a trade. You may not have Percy here, but you have more people who might know of his whereabouts. Consider it a down payment-you help us find Percy, Jason returns."

If wolves could smile, Lupa was grinning from ear to ear. _"But of course. And how do we know you won't __dishonor__ our agreement? As a matter of fact, how do YOU know WE won't back out? How about this for a trade-Jason returns to us-but before he does, he must help our heroes find the key. We both need each other, and we both shall get what we need."_

It showed how deep the water was for them that Annabeth didn't even consider saying no. In fact, the strongest any of them did to show disapproval for the plan was Thalia, as she ground her teeth together. But, whether or not she agreed, Annabeth wasn't going to compromise-or almost compromise- the safety of her friend.

"Fine. But if Jason goes, we should be allowed to pick two others to go along with him. It's our quest as well, is it not?"

Lupa tilted her head and looked at Annabeth. _"You bargain well, daughter of Athena. But I won't have your heroes overpowering us. We choose three heroes, and you choose three as well. Is that something you all can agree to as fair?"_

It was a good option-and probably the best Lupa would offer. Annabeth had previously shown that she wasn't dumb, and that was a fact she wouldn't hesitate to prove again and again. "Allright. Three Greeks, three Romans, one quest. We can agree to that. No more, no less, and divine interference goes the same."

Lupa confirmed it with a nod, and then turned to the doors. _"Unlock the doors. We have reached our consensus."_

James covered his mouth to keep from laughing, and I turned give him a death glare. "Shut up! They'll know you're an idiot!" I hissed at him. He glared back, but thankfully managed to stop laughing.

When the doors were unlocked, Lupa looked at me and nodded her head, ever so slightly. There was only one thing she could mean, so James and I led the campers to the Luna cabin. One night couldn't be too bad, could it?

**(a/n) I tried to make it as long as I could, but I don't want to start the next bit in this chapter, so . . . yeah. Nobody knows what's wrong with Mary? Poor girl. No help for her, apparently. I'll give you a hint: It starts with an s, and nobody in their right mind has it. Or can spell it. DX. Reviews are welcomed!**

**ave**


	12. Chapter 12

**(a/n) Sorry about the super-mega-lateness, blah-blah, etc, now here's the chapter:**

Chapter 12

James's POV

Let me just start off by saying this: it was LATE. I'm not gonna tell you when, because I don't remember, but it was LATE. I was tired, I wasn't in my right mind, and neither of us was thinking straight.

Okay. Now that I've given my excuse, here goes what happened:

I stared at the ceiling above my bunk. Because all the Greeks were staying in the Luna cabin, I had no idea what was going on. I fell asleep, still thinking about what could be happening.

About two hours later, someone shook me awake. Groggily, I opened my eyes, and found myself looking at Ann. "Wha'? How did you . . . What's wrong?" I mumbled.

Ann tilted her head at me. "Haven't you already figured it out? We have to get the Pluto out of here! DO you REALLY think that the Mars campers will be HAPPY that we're joining forces with GREEKS? Trust me; we have enough problems as it is without serious injuries to add to the list."

I frowned. "But who are we going to choose to come with us? And who would agree to leave at . . . what time is it? And with a group of strangers?"

"Did you even hear a word I said?" she accused. "We don't have enough time! The Greeks already have their group ready. Piper and Annabeth are going . . . and because we'll meet up with Percy on the way, they're going to outnumber us no matter what!"

"But doesn't Jason count as one of us? And Percy can't remember anything about them. So wouldn't we be even? Besides, we can't go against what Lupa said." I contradicted.

Ann rolled her eyes. "I don't know for sure whose side they're on anymore. At first I thought maybe Jason could be on ours . . . but there's something in the way he talks to them. They're his friends, now—camp loyalties mean nothing."

I gulped. If she was right, we were as good as dead. "Okay. So, we can stay at camp, die, and force someone else to go with them and be outnumbered anyway or we can go with them now and die later. Am I right?"

She blushed. "Yeah, pretty much."

All I really wanted to do was sleep . . . but I decided it would be better off for me if I lived as long as possible. "Ugh, fine. I'll get my stuff."

Ann grins, triumphant. "Perfect. Meet us in front of the Luna cabin in 15 minutes."

10 minutes later, I realized that I seriously needed to get a move on.

|/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/|  
(still James's POV)

It was 20 minutes after Ann woke me up that I made it to the cabin. By then, all four of them were waiting.

I couldn't believe, but I was actually glad Jason was there. 'Course, it was only because I didn't want to be stuck with three girls, but still . . . _I _was _glad_ that he was there. Anyone else picking up on some major weirdness?

Maybe I was just a little confused in the darkness, but he looked a little relieved that I had decided to come.

Annabeth and Ann—am I the only one who finds their names to be ironic? Annabeth, Ann. Ann, Annabeth—were both glaring at each other. I had a feeling it was about Ann's little stunt with Lupa.

So, as I was saying, they were all there. Not much talking going on—more like zilch. The silence was starting to kill me. "Sooooooooo . . . ." I awkwardly began.

"Don't. Don't even try to talk." Piper managed to say, her voice slightly going into hysterics. She turned to Annabeth. "I don't know why you want me to—no, wait I know, but still—go with you."

Jason looked concerned. "Piper, I—,"

She glares at him. "You, too. Just don't talk to me. I'll come on the stupid quest, I'll do whatever Annabeth says, but I have rights, and I do NOT have to talk to you, about that girl, and gods know what else you haven't told me. _DON'T talk at ALL._"

Her last words came out in a hiss. Jason tried to say something, and changed his mind, it seemed. I didn't know what was going on between them, and I didn't want to know. Judging from the looks on both Annabeth's and Ann's faces, Piper's was a new approach to an argument that had been going on for a very long time.

"Well, then." Ann swallows. "Let's get going."

When she had first woken me up, Ann sounded like she'd had a plan. After seeing just what her plan was, I was definitely beginning to have my doubts.

Begrudgingly, I realized that I had to back her up on this. We were going to walk.

Surprisingly, the walk wasn't as awkward as it could have been. With some coaxing, Annabeth and Piper were talking about the Greek camp. Then, Annabeth started talking about Percy. Piper had never met him, apparently.

That went on for a while—until I realized that Jason hadn't said a word. At all. For the past half hour. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. And I was beginning to think it wasn't his choice.

Apparently, Annabeth had come to the same conclusion, because she called out his name. Jason turned toward her, but he didn't say a word. Annabeth blinked . . . and then some knowledge must have dawned on her because she rolled her eyes.

"Piper?" she called out, sounding slightly annoyed.

"What?" Piper asked with such fake innocence in her voice, a disintegrated griffon could spot it from a mile off.

Annabeth laughed sourly. "Look, Piper, I appreciate your efforts, but the longer you keep him from saying anything, the angrier he's going to get. F this is going to work at all, we can't be fighting with each other every minute of the day."

Piper glared at Jason. "_You can talk now._" She turned to Annabeth. "Happy, now?"

Jason cleared his throat. "Umm . . . thanks, Piper."

She lightly slaps the side of his head. Most of the resent she'd been showing was gone, now replaced with a more playful friendliness.

Any problems we'd had had quickly been resolved. Everything was perfectly fine, and as normal as things could be. I couldn't help but think that something was going to go horribly, horribly wrong.

Luckily, it was nothing more than what we were already in for.

**(a/n) I'm trying, I'm trying. **

**If I don't get more than 10 reviews on this chapter, I'm abandoning. It's a little hard to write this, after reading Rick Riordan's SoN, but so long as you guys are reading, I can try.**

**-avelinette**


	13. So sorry! :P

**(a/n)**

**Well, I mean, the whole chapter is an author's note, so I don't really need to format it with the bold print and the "(a/n)", but I guess I just sort of feel like it.**

**So, I'm sorry for the absolutely, ridiculously late post, but here it is:**

**I've totally lost this story. Like, 'left it at a bus stop in the middle of a southern town in Spain that no one has ever heard of' lost it.**

**If someone wants to take over the story, that's absolutely fine by me. Just PM me, and I'll agree, and we'll be all swappy swappy.**

**Sorry if there was anyone out there actually reading. Thank you all the way for your support if you were.  
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**-ave**

**Bye!**

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**No, seriously.**

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**Bye, now!**

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**Okay, bye.**

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**Something's missing right now.**

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**I feel bad, just leaving you like that. With me giving up and all.**

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**Maybe it would make it better if I left you with something. Like, a hug.**

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**Or maybe if I gave you all a preview of what stories I have coming?**

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**Okay, that's a keeper.**

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**But how to develop it into my already existing (a/n)?**

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**Ahah!**

**So, one more thing before y'all leave and give up on me forever for my failure at life. Or at least, in the PJO fandom.**

**I feel bad leaving everyone like this, so I'm going to post my next story immediately. The prologue should be up on my account shortly after I post this. And by shortly, for once, I actually mean **_**shortly**_**. Like, within the next hour.**

**Everyone who read all the way through gets free imaginary cookies!**

**-ave XD**


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